(Photo courtesy of Nicole Heiling; special thanks to Creationworx)

Lucas Zuppinger is the founder of ZwischenRAUM, a Swiss Montessori school that offers an open and experiential approach to education. We reached out to Lucas recently because we learned that he had incorporated Pinkcoin into his curriculum.

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Pinkcoin: As far as you know, are you the only school in the world that accepts cryptocurrency? How did that happen?

Lucas Zuppinger: Yes, it’s rather odd that a school in the land of traditional banking is promoting crypto. I want to pay my bread, my salad and my rent in a currency that is not based on debt. I am doing my part to promote openness and freedom by offering my services for crypto, too. In addition I’m a math teacher, a gambler and very interested in new ways of living.

PC: Tell us about your school and your approach to education.

LZ: Our school is still growing. As we play strategy games a lot, go outside a lot and learn outdoors as an alternative to the traditional textbook curriculum we try to find parents that share our approach to education and who trust us. We try not to interrupt curiosity, feelings and incorporate school as a part of life. Here is our approach, in German. But non-German speakers can get the gist by running the page through Google Translate: https://www.zwischenraum-thurgau.ch/unsere-werte/

PC: It seems like the open approach to education that the Montessori method offers is a natural fit for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

LZ: Yes and no. No, because Montessori was aware that physical contact with the subject matter is very important. Let’s touch, let’s feel, let’s smell, let’s play…. Yes, because I really hope that blockchain technology will stop the madness of bureaucracy and give us more time to just live. And yes, because I’m just curious about crypto and curiosity should not be stopped.

PC: How did you become aware of Pinkcoin?

LZ: First time I got into contact with Bitcoin was 2013. A friend told me and we bought 1 Bitcoin for around 300$. Then last May amutualacquaintance showed up and tried to sell us an unknown crypto. I did some background checking on the Internet and was not convinced by his currency, but was by crypto in general. I opened an account at Poloniex and checked first all the websites of the traded coins. I was often bored by so much technical information, but Pink was giving a lot of variety. I liked the social aspect and the funny blog. The humor and the desire for social impact seemed so lacking in the rest of the cryptocurrency space.

PC:For educators who are not aware of social impact cryptocurrencies like Pinkcoin, what advice would you offer them?

LZ: The social impact of Pinkcoin is still small. But I chose that currency to help it grow. Not only educators, everybody must know, that it’s really important what product you choose. If you buy local, organic and aware., you support the guys who want to make this world a better place. If you support the JP Morgan, Exxon or Wal-Mart, you support the guys nuking our planet sooner or later. Also, in the crypto business you have to be aware, because some people just want to make fast profit and some manipulate the market. I deeply believe that the Pink community will lead us into a world with more love, respect, help and peace.